Friday, December 9, 2016

The near total decimation of a town is a terrible thing, as the people of New Orleans can attest to. But can something good ever come from it?

This past May, a frenzied tornado devastated the tiny Midwestern town of Greensburg, Kansas. Nearly every structure – houses, businesses, schools, even hospitals – was severely damaged or destroyed. Lives were lost and those who survived did so without their homes.

But new Mayor John Janssen is choosing to focus on the only possible light beyond the tunnel: the chance to start over — and to start over right.

The town will be the subject of Planet Green’s new television series, Eco-Town, which will detail the journey of Greensburg and its inhabitants as a sustainable model of green building and living is constructed from the remains. The hope, according to Planet Green’s website is that the new eco-designs will help “save the tight-knit community from future environmental catastrophe.”

John Picard has signed on as Sustainability Consultant for the show, which “will follow state and local officials as they make efforts to build an ecologically and economically sustainable locale that will encourage the storm’s victims to return to their homes and workplaces.”

The 13-episode program will be produced by Leonardo DiCaprio and Craig Piligian and will air on The Discovery Channel, Planet Green, TLC and The Science Channel.

For more information on the Greensburg or Eco-Town, click here. To make a donation to Greensburg’s rebuilding fund, click here.